Special Sections - Portrait

It was blowing off his boss to go to lunch on Aug. 3 13 years ago that landed Curt Martin where he is today. Martin eventually would become the financial aid director for Mesa State College, but on that day, he had just found out his wife, ...

Anne Hart came to the Grand Valley six years ago without intentions of opening her own business, but fate surprised her by opening a door she never would have expected. After 20 years, Hart retired from a credit union in Laramie, Wyo. She and ...

Terri Gird may be a volunteer for the GJPD, but it still is all business with her Don’t get the wrong idea. Gird is all business, and her business is being the volunteer-services coordinator for the Grand Junction Police Department, a ...

Randy Powell always has a lot on his plate, whether it’s his day job, night job or hobbies. Powell’s day job is as the athletic director at Central High School, a position he took over earlier this year. Already an assistant ...

Nature or nurture is no debate with Maxine Curley. By nature, humans are a peaceful animal. For proof, one need look no further then the children’s section of the Mesa County Library’s main branch, 530 Grand Ave. Maxine has spent ...

Rick Dujay has more past lives than uranium has half-lives, or so it seems. Dujay was a college-football prospect. He was the youngest firefighter ever hired by the Houston Fire Department when he was 18. He was a member of the ...

There are four kinds of calamities that could spring a barefoot David Jones from the comfy seat on his couch and out of his flannel pajamas at about 10 p.m. on a recent nippy winter night: a fire, a fatal, a plane crash or a rollover. ...

On their honeymoon to Metropolis, Ill., where they reveled in the annual Superman Celebration and met the original Lois Lane, Kyle and Mandy Hagerman thought they had glimpsed a gem. An employee of the Super Museum, stuffed with more than ...

Jose Iglesias is as comfortable climbing a mountain as he is walking around his house. Actually, he might be more comfortable on a mountain. “Everything’s safe,” Iglesias said. “You feel at home.” Iglesias is ...

Every time Heidi Hoffman Ham peers outside her office window, the executive director of the Grand Junction Downtown Development Authority sees one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Grand Valley. She takes in the view of an area that ...

Dick Bell was a practicing lawyer and professor, when he saw an ad in an airline magazine and discovered his true passion. “I was on an airplane somewhere and opened up a magazine and saw a big ad about sports management,” Bell ...

At the start of a concert, Charles King flashes his toothy grin to the packed bar and the song starts with sound rising in his belly, it builds in the lungs, moves up his throat and bursts from his lips like a burp that tastes like rock ...

If marching band was easy, they would have called it football. That is one of many marching band jokes Corey Aday, 14, has Googled. That saying makes her giggle and then say something to the effect of “no offense” to football ...

Most people love animals, but there may be no one who loves them as much as Robert Anthony. Anthony grew up in Elgin, Ill., and his family always owned at least one dog. “I love animals,” Anthony said. “I’ve been ...

At 60 years old, Sheryl VanHole claims she has never been healthier or more physically fit. VanHole attributes her health to her diet, morning walks and fitness classes at Rocky Mountain Health Plans, where she works. But equally important to ...